Earlier this week, I listened to an NPR story about Makoko – a floating community in Lagos, Nigeria. Even though Lagos and Nairobi sit on opposite sides of the African continent, I kept finding myself thinking…This sounds so much like Kibera.
The reporter described Lagos as having a “restless energy and entrepreneurialism everywhere in town.” That immediately reminded me of Kibera.
If you’ve ever visited the Kibera Girls Soccer Academy (KGSA), you know the feeling. Tiny storefronts squeezed beside homes. Music playing from kiosks. Street vendors balancing impossible loads. People fixing, building, cooking, selling, creating. Constant motion. Constant hustle.
One line especially stayed with me:“Once you’re a creative person, you can succeed in Lagos.” Honestly? The same is true in Kibera.
The girls at KGSA grow up in an environment that demands resilience, creativity, adaptability, and determination from a very young age. They learn how to problem-solve quickly. How to share limited resources. How to navigate challenges most of us can barely imagine.
The podcast also described some of the harder realities: shortages of clean water, sanitation struggles, unreliable electricity, overcrowding, and luxury high-rises rising beside informal settlements where families still lack basic infrastructure. Again… so much of it echoed the Kibera slums of Nairobi.
For 20 years, KGSA has worked alongside families in Kibera, and one thing has become very clear to us: true community development must value every person in the community, especially those most often overlooked: Girls.Youth.Women.Children.People living with disabilities.The elderly.
Development cannot only benefit the wealthy or those already connected to opportunity. A city is only as strong as how it treats its most marginalized residents. That belief is what has shaped KGSA from the beginning. It’s why our model focuses not only on education, but also mentorship, counseling, nutrition, healthcare, leadership, and creating a safe community where girls are known and supported as whole people. And it’s why our impact has remained sustainable over two decades. Because real change happens when communities themselves are invested in, listened to, and empowered – not pushed aside as cities modernize around them.
What struck me most in both Makoko and Kibera was not despair. It was determination. People building businesses. Parents sacrificing for their children.Young people dreaming of bigger futures. Communities finding ways to survive and thrive despite enormous barriers.
That’s what we see at KGSA every day. Not girls waiting to be “saved.”Girls with enormous potential who deserve the opportunity to shape their own futures.
Thank you for continuing to invest in that future.